Employing a visual language that draws on industrial materials and fabrication methods, the collaborative design practice of John and Kevin Watts, aka Susan For Susan, balances rationale with experimentation to explore the distinction between sculpture and product design. Their exhibit at MOCA arranges a set of design propositions for an apartment interior, suspended from a gantry system.
Juxtaposing the raw with the polished, the sterile with pops of colour or subtle moments of humour, they imbue playfulness into a series of propositions and help humanize the industrial rigour of their objects. This dance between what is playful and what is industrial creates a tension that has come to define Susan For Susan’s work and the brothers’ approach of conceptual storytelling.
Susan For Susan’s playful composition of potential product and furniture pieces, and their first outing in a museum context, continues MOCA’s commitment to exhibiting cultural practitioners whose practices bridge disciplines, particularly between art, architecture, and design.
Susan For Susan’s installation will share Floor 3 with a project by Canadian artist Athena Papadopoulos.
About the Artists
Susan For Susan is a Toronto based design studio founded by brothers John and Kevin Watts. The studio balances rationale and experimentation to produce honest, intelligible works. All pieces are handmade by the brothers, celebrating process and the qualities inherent in the materials.
